Palm Coast, FL Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

City Code § 15-28, adopted by Ordinance No. 2018-11 in April 2018, amends Section 1612 of the Florida Building Code, the FBC provision Palm Coast enforces citywide under § 15-1, by adding two local flood-elevation rules. 2 sets the elevation floor for coastal high-hazard areas (Zone V) and Coastal A Zones: buildings must be elevated to whichever is higher of the ASCE 24 standard or the base flood elevation plus 2 feet (610 mm), the city's local freeboard requirement above and beyond the minimum FEMA base flood elevation.

3 then restricts what can happen below that elevated line: enclosed areas below the design flood elevation cannot be partitioned or finished into separate rooms, with narrow exceptions for stairwells, ramps, and elevators, so a ground-level enclosure can't quietly become livable space that defeats the flood-protection purpose of raising the structure. The same section also tightens two flood-related definitions that determine when these elevation rules kick in for an existing building. "Substantial damage" is damage from any cause, including flood-related damage on two separate occasions within a 10-year period, that on average costs 25 percent or more of the structure's pre-damage market value to repair.

"Substantial improvement" is any combination of repair, reconstruction, or addition within a 10-year period whose cumulative cost equals or exceeds 50 percent of the structure's pre-improvement market value, with the accumulation clock starting on the first permitted improvement after August 19, 2008. 2.